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Thursday, January 29, 2015

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share three movie picks each Thursday. The
rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for
you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be
favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of
each.For further details visit the
series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks
is All in the Family Edition - Married Couples Movies

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Every last Thursday for the
first nine months of 2015 I'm running the All in the Family Edition and today
is the the first theme for the edition - Married Couples. I don't know about
you but I'm finding it hard picking movies for this theme. There are a few
films that would have been perfect for this theme but I unfortunately
have not seen. Then there are others that I've seen that were potentially great picks until I realised
the couples were actually unmarried while some of the other more memorable
movies that featured married couples seem to delve more into the dark and toxic side
of marriage and many ended up into a lot of lists in the wake of Gone Girl thus I
decided to not do a similar kind of list. So what's left for me to pick from then? Well not
much, making my list admittedly quite pathetic with only two picks which are
not really movies about married couples but both have one that is important to the movie.

I am not an animated movie
person, but funnily enough both my picks today are animated, the first being
The Incredibles. I really like the interaction between the couple and I just
love the whole Parr family as whole. The really are like a "real"
family.

So we only got a short
montage of the Carl and his wife in the beginning of the movie but it's one of
the most lovely portrayal of a married couple which possibly had you in or on
the verge of tears by the end of it.

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So that's it...my embarrassing
short list this week. I'll definitely do better next week. What three movies made
your list today?

If
you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget
below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which
will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs,
spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your
own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share three movie picks each Thursday. The
rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for
you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be
favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of
each.For further details visit the
series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Movies with Colour in the Title

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The last few weeks I've been going into how I came up with the particular theme of that week but this week there is no story to it so let's get straight on to my picks. Today all of them are gems with only one which I'd really call hidden gem:

When Jasmine's husband dies after being uncovered as a fraudster, Jasmine privileged life crumbles and her sanity disintegrates. Cate Blanchett won an Oscar for this so yes she was brilliant as Jasmine. Jasmine is definitely not a likable character but it is quite heartbreaking when her efforts to be independent gets crushed and especially when we finally see her completely lose it becoming one of the people you'd sometime see having conversations with themselves.

This would be the hidden gem of the week. In Green Street Hooligans Elijah Wood plays an American who comes to England to visit his sister and soon finds himself a part of die hard football fans who have a penchant for violence. I used to watch quite a bit of English football and no doubt one would hear something of the hooliganism that plagues it. I'm sure this movie probably only scratches the surface of the hooligan culture, still I found it to be a fascinating watch.

Ruby Sparks (2012)
A novelist writes about his dream girl and somehow wills her into existence. Basically it's about loving the idea of a person instead of the person and thinking about this movie reminds me of Amy Dunne's of Gone Girl Cool Girl speech...except I suppose the geek version of the cool girl is the manic pixie dream girl.

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So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?

If
you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget
below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which
will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs,
spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your
own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

We're already two thirds through January but as I've hardly made any post on books the later part of last year I'm going to rectify that by doing one now. So even though it's a little late here's my 2014 year in books.

Read
I read significantly fewer books in 2014 than in 2013 but I didn't really have any number I was aiming for so I'm happy with what I was able to read.

Adult vs Young Adult
2013 had been a year in which I rediscovered YA again so most books that I read that year were YA titles. 2014 I even it out reading an equal number of YA and Adult titles.

Audiobooks
If 2013 was the year I discovered ebooks then 2014 was the year of audiobooks. I had tried an audiobook or two in the past but did not enjoy the experience. Still last year I tried again and I was hooked. Three reasons why I think audiobooks are wonderful.

It's great way to "read" a book while commuting to wherever, doing chores or mundane computer work.

When I want to read something but am unsure that I'd enjoy it or titles that look like they could be tedious and require heavy time investment, I'd definitely listen to the audiobook instead.

Lastly it's also a great way to "reread" a book either to revisit the story before reading the sequel or just to experience a book I enjoyed reading in a different way.

Podcasts
I've been listening to Movies and TV show podcasts for a couple of years now and this year I've finally checked out some bookish podcasts. Unfortunately there are not as many but there are some great ones. I enjoy the usual topical type of podcasts but I'm really loving the book club/review type that either have questions from readers posed to the authors or have a bunch of podcasters discussing a book which is a great way to hear differing views. Some of the bookish podcast that have become my favourites are the BBC and Slate book clubs.

Series
I've started a lot of series the last two years or so and haven't been any good at completing those that I started. 2014 I really made an attempt to get through some of them and I ended up completing four series (I finally finished Breaking Dawn the last book in the series some 7 years after I started the Twilight); all were YA series because let's face it YA has a lot series, just look at those that eventually got movie adaptation. That said I've also read 6 first book of a series (only two of which I'll probably continue with the sequels) and tackled 5 second book of a series. Unfortunately none of the second books were better of the first.

Favourite Reads of 2014
2013 I read a lot of books that I came to love, 2014 not so much. I suppose that is to expected since I did read fewer books. Anyway here are four of my favourites from 2014:

The Curse Workers - This YA series completely blew me away. I finished all three books this year and this is the fastest I've ever completed a series. Suffice to say I love it, and it's kinda sad that there won't be any more books in this series because the world the book is set in is just so fascinating. In brief it's set in an alternate world where humans that have supernatural skills (manipulating people's luck, emotions, memories among others) are called Curse Workers. The protagonist is a kid called Cassel born into a family of Curse Workers although he himself doesn't know what his abilities are or if he would ever eventually develop one. He increasingly feels like the outsider of his family both for his lack of special abilities and his disapproval of his family's criminal activities; his mother is a con artist working on the emotions of rich men to swindle their money while his two older brothers are using their special talents for the mob. When Cassel begins sleepwalking and encounters a white cat he begins to uncover the depth of his family's criminal activities.

The Age of Miracles - This is another favourite read of 2014. Gorgeously written it is a haunting coming of age tale set against the backdrop of the rotation of the earth slowing down making the days longer and longer each day heading ever so slowly towards what seems like the end of the world. If this was ever made into a movie I imagine it to be as a cross between The Virgin Suicides and Melancholia.

Looking ahead, 2015
I think I've made a good start having already read 4.
I'll no doubt check out more audiobooks.
I would also like to discover more bookish podcast so if you know some great ones do recommend.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share three movie picks each Thursday. The
rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for
you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be
favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of
each.For further details visit the
series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Musicals.

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When I set some of the themes for the 2015 Thursday Movie Picks I tried to tie in the theme to some current big release. I had then referred to IMDB and apparently it showed that Into the Woods is released this week. Only recently did I realise that the location had been set to local release dates and that Into the Woods has been released about 2 weeks ago everywhere else. Oh well there goes my careful planning.

Anyway this week's theme is musicals. It's not a genre that I usually drift towards; I usually can't stand the stagy-ness, the overacting, and the talking and breaking into song which are common in a lot of musicals. Since I haven't watch a great many musicals to come up with hidden gems this week I'm going to go with three that really won me over becoming some of my favourite movies.

This is a childhood favourite. I watched this so often then. It's a fun teen flick with great catchy songs. It's also set in the 50's which means they're all in the cute colourful costumes and as a kid I just fell in love with Grease.

Like I said, I'm not big on musicals and I was so reluctant to see this when it came out but was eventually persuaded to and I love it. I love the story, the visuals and its use of re-spun pop music which were all perfectly used. And it has actors that can act without overacting even though it is set in this wild theatrical world.

This this! Is this even considered a musical? It is so different from any of the musicals I've seen before and honestly I don't care because it's great. It has this quiet and low key way of storytelling, and often it just seems the cameras just happen to be there catching the people in it meeting and making music, it's just so organic. Then couple that with the brilliant music it's just magic. The music of Once is also exactly the kind of music I love to listen to, so yeah I definitely fell for Once...not slowly but at once.

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So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?

If
you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget
below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which
will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs,
spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your
own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

Sunday, January 11, 2015

This year I'm participating in the Blind Spot series which was launched
by Ryan McNeil of The Matinee. The gist of the series is that we're supposed to pick 12
movie blind spots, that is, movies that you've wanted and feel should
watch but yet have somehow still not seen.

I'm a little late in
compiling the list but it is tough narrowing it down to just 12.
Accessibility is a major factor for me picking my 12 so I've done my
homework and have determined that I can get my hands on those that I've
chosen. I've been reading several bloggers' blind spot entries it seems
for most the 12 movies are spread over 12 months, however, I am doubtful
that I'd be able to do it that way. I'm such a mood watcher, I'd
probably have a month where I will not be interested to watch any on my
blind spot list. Basically my solution is to do a quarterly recap on
those that I've managed to watch.

The Big Lebowski (1998)
One of those movies gets mentioned and referenced so often I'm starting to feel left out of the conversation.

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
The 1st Thursday Movie Picks of 2015 was Bank Robberies and I'm reminded by the fact that I still have not seen this.

Chungking Express (1994)
I've watched In the Mood for Love and it's just a gorgeous film and I've been meaning to check out another Wong Kar Wai movie.

Doctor Zhivago (1965)
I want to watch a sweeping epic film, and this looks right especially since it's been sitting on my shelves for years.

Groundhog Day (1993)
Yes
it's true, I've not seen this (unless of course I did and forgot all
about it which I'll never know until I do try and watch it this time) so
I never got any references people make.

Magnolia (1999)
This was someone's pick for one of the Thursday Movie Picks (was it ensemble or talking movies?) which reminded me that I've had this movie for quite sometime so I think it's been about time I watch it.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
I've had this on my movie queue forever. It keeps getting bumped down whenever a newer movie becomes available so I'm going to make an effort to see it this year.

Roman Holiday (1953)
I wanted to include a fun modern fairytale on this list and I think this would be perfect.

Timecrimes (2007)
This movie often gets mentioned whenever Time Travel movies is discussed and for a long while I thought I'd never get to see this as the not-so-big foreign movies are difficult to find, but now I know where I can borrow it so yes I'll finally get to check it out.

Wall-E (2008)
Said to be one of Pixar's best so definitely a blind spot.

West Side Story (1961)
I've only seen parts of this and last week it was referenced on two separate non-movie podcast I was listening to; I've got to be in on these movie references.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share three movie picks each Thursday. The
rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for
you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be
favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of
each.For further details visit the
series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Movies that feature an Irreparable Mistake

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I'm wondering if this week's theme is challenging because I didn't need ponder over my picks this time around seeing that my picks (The three will all be hidden gems picks and I'll also include one bonus) today are the movies that inspired the theme. Back in 2008 I watched a trio of movies all around the same time that coincidentally had characters making mistakes, irreparable ones. These movies stuck with me because they involved children in crimes/incidents that destroyed lives. You can't help but think their own lives too would forever have a before and after. An after, if they had a conscience, would be filled with deep guilt and regret. How terrible it is to know and carry such a thing so young.

As always in alphabetical order:

Boy A(2004)
Boy A has quite a controversy surrounding it; first the plot is somewhat similar with a real life crime that occurred in the 1990's and the other I suppose for
depicting a person who committed a heinous crime as human. Boy A is indeed bleak and challenging and is I think a very well made movie featuring a great performance by Andrew Garfield as Jack the Boy A in the title. Jack is a young man recently released from jail and has a tough road ahead as
he tries to reintegrate back into society and carry the weight of his
crime.

Mean Creak (2004)
A couple of friends lure a bully to the woods to play a prank and humiliate him but buttons get pushed way too far and things don't go exactly as they plan. This movie is just so good especially the performances of the child actors and I hardly see it get mention anywhere. One of the memorable scenes in the movie is the one that is shown in the posters...just the shock horrified look on the kids.

Paranoid Park (2007)
Alex, a teenage skater, is involved in a terrible accident. We mostly
don't know what it is but he is deeply affected by it and becomes
distant and distracted. This movie is a slow one but it gets there. I
actually thought that they weren't going to show the accident but it
does and it is pretty horrifying. It's one of those movies that I'd never watch again because of that scene.

Bonus Pick:

Atonement (2007)
I thought I'd add a more well known and perhaps more accessible film for this theme as well. In Atonement, 13 year old Briony is an aspiring writer with an active imagination who makes a false accusation against her sister's lover for a crime due to a misunderstanding. At the time she did not fathom the repercussions of her accusation and would live the rest of the life in regret and attempts to atone for her error in the only way she can.

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So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?

If
you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget
below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which
will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs,
spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your
own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

Sunday, January 4, 2015

A new year gives all of usexcuses to make
lists. Everyone is making them, so I’m making one too; a list of 2015 movies I’m
anticipating. I know some of the movies may have been already released in 2014, but
where I’m from it has not been released yet.

A little intro on my list; I don’t usually
watch trailers so my interest on a particular flick is usually based on the plot summary, the
people involved, the promo stills and the general buzz surrounding it. You
might not see some of the bigger blockbusters on my list because even though I
will most likely watch them, they’re not the ones I’m intrigued by and am
anticipating. I’m also pretty sure I’m missing out some other good ones that I
should keep a look out for so feel free to make a suggestion.

(in alphabetical order)

Cinderella- I did not like Maleficent, so I'm hoping I'd like this one better.

Crimson Peak - There's not much detail in the plot summary on IMDB. It looks like a gothic period movie. It's directed and co-written by Guillermo del Toro, so I'm in.

The Dressmaker - I just saw the first image of the movie and Kate Winslet looks gorgeous in her period costume. Since the movie is about a dressmaker, I expect to be wowed by the costumes.

Equals - The plot summary on IMDB is so brief and it kinda sounds like a YA novel plot.

Experimenter - Ever heard of the Milgram experiments? It's both fascinating and scary.

Far from the Madding Crowd - Love watching period dramas and adaptations. I have already seen the Julie Christie one so naturally I am looking forward this new adaptation.

Insurgent - Divergent was a pretty good movie. Insurgent (the book) was boring so I'm curious how the movie will play the story out. By the looks of the posters, it seems like they are playing up on the action more even though at least from what I remember of the book it is the least actiony of the trilogy.

Into the Forest - I like apocalyptic tales so this one has me interested. It's also based on a book I've been meaning to read but haven't had a chance to. I'll probably end up watching the movie first.

Jupiter Ascending - This is one of the few movies on this list that I've actually checked out the trailer. It looks like it could be really cool or just incredibly bad especially since its release date has been pushed back quite a few times I think.The Keeping Room - Sounds a little like Cold Mountain in that it has some strong women surviving during the Civil War. Also stars Brit Marling and I've pretty much liked everything I've seen her in.

Kingsman: The Secret Service - So I'm only going by the plot summary and some of the promo pics I've seen of this; I think this could be a fun watch plus I've enjoyed all of other moviesMatthew Vaughn directed.

The Light Between Oceans - Not a big fan of the book but it has an emotional story with a huge moral dilemma at the centre...and I'd love to see Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander potray the two main characters.

London Fields - The plot sounds soo interesting. Should I be reading the book first?

Macbeth - I think may have read a tiny part of the play but I remember nothing other than something about witches...I'm terrible.

Madame Bovary - The only Madame Bovary I've seen was the 2000 TV movie, so yeah I'm looking forward to this one. Mia Wasikowska also plays the title role; she was great in another classic adaptation, Jane Eyre.

Paper Towns - This is the second adapation of John Green's books. The first was The Fault in Our Stars, a movie I quite like. I haven't read Paper Towns but will hopefully do so before seeing this.

Project Almnac - I don't like the title at all. Anyway it's a teen movie that has time travel and it sounds pretty cool.

Sing Street - It's written and directed by the same guy that made Once. I still haven't watch Begin Again, but I love love Once.

The Stanford Prison Experiment - Another pyschological experiment movie. It has been made into a movie twice quite recently (2001 and 2010), both of which I have yet to see. This new one does star a number upcoming actors so I'm looking forward to it.

Stockholm, Pennsylvania - I like Martha Marcy May Marlene and I'm getting a sense this is going to be somewhat similar.

Tomorrowland - I saw a teaser for this. It looks cool...looks like good old movie magic.

Tulip Fever - The last time I visited 17th century Netherlands was in Girl with a Pearl Earring and this (also based on a book) could be another visually stunning movie coincidentally also about an artist and a woman heis painting.

Victor Frankenstein - I've never seen a Frankenstein movie before and this has James McAvoy as the Dr and Daniel Radcliffe as Igor. I wonder who plays the monster?